Live8 1 Year on

This weekend it was a year since Live 8 and the events surrounding the G8 summit in Gleneagles. At which point there was true optimism that there was a tide of change sweeping through the corridors of power, not only in this country but throughout the world.

Looking back on those events with the hindsight of a year of little activity one could easily be disillusioned with the slow progress or any change, if indeed anything positive has happened. Lets see what has actually happened in the year since the G8 summit…


There have been positive moves, these include:

• Some debt has been cancelled - $5 billion of Zambia’s Dept
• One Million HIV infected people now have access to treatment
• Aid has enabled Burundi to remove education fees leading to 300,000 children going to school

I think that we would all agree that some good has come, but on the other hand:

• 30,000 people still die needlessly each day
• One life every three seconds

It is easy to quote such numbers, numbers that seem just that numbers, but these are lives, human lives like you and me.

Lets put this into perspective… the average human being breathes 25,000 times a day… I will leave you to draw your own comparisons and thoughts.

From a personal contact with one of the organisers of the events I know that they all did so out of a true dedication to solving the devastating problems of world poverty and inequality of out fellow citizens, however, if you will forgive me for generalising, perhaps those events were seen to be an excuse for a great party, a chance for a spectacle never to be repeated, and a chance to launch careers. Please, lets not wait another 20 years to make our voices heard or to take action

I think that the answer to all this is that more needs to be done… the ‘Make Poverty History’ campaign is still on going, it did not stop with Live8.


What can we do to help?

We all have a voice… each voice can make a difference, if everyone speaks our voice will be heard. Sadly I have stopped wearing my ‘Make Poverty History’ wrist band, I will start wearing it again. I encourage all to go to the website above and see what you can do. Lets hold our politicians responsible for what they have promised, keep watching, ensure action happens.